Priscilla Hoback’s journey into her
creative process, her techniques, and her life as she follows the voice
of the clay are detailed in this stunning book about a major
southwestern artist. Lavish color photographs throughout.

In LIVING CLAY Priscilla Hoback
details her journey deep
into the creative process revealing her techniques and a unique
artistic life as she follows the voice of the clay. Digging local
clays, developing a vocabulary of glazes, and building high-fire kilns
is work that is grounded in the earth itself. She has created an
original art form she calls Murals that have their roots in prehistoric
cave art, indigenous clays, and her own powerful response to the
breathtaking canyons, open sky, and ancient beauty of the land in New
Mexico.

The greatest
power an artist can
have is the ability to create
honestly—exploring thoroughly and continuously her own thoughts and
experiences. From a handful of clay on carefully acquired grounds, to
meticulously painted, fired, and mounted murals, Priscilla Hoback's
artwork is utterly personal, and yet utterly universal. It is as though
she has humbly and lovingly molded, stroked, and painted nature itself.
Her work reminds me that we all live in the "Land of Enchantment"--
George Rodrique

"It
has been rumored that Priscilla can hear the clay think. Perhaps it
is true; I don’t know. But I believe it much more now than I did before
I read her book. All the while I thought her greatest talent was at the
potters wheel or with the clay in her hands. I was wrong; it is with
the pen that she excels and I am deeply moved by her words."

— Forrest
Fenn, biographer of Joseph Henry Sharp

It's
about time this work came
out—it’s terrific! Priscilla
has written from the heart and soul of New Mexico.

—Natalie Goldberg,
author of Writing Down the Bones

Lots of spirit alive here—spirit in
the land, the work, and
the words. Priscilla demonstrates that no one stands between us and our
source.

—Lynn V. Andrews, author of Medicine Woman

Priscilla
tells a tale much like
the ancient and pure tales
of the creation of the first being from clay; how it was drawn into
being by a lng, dug up,
slammed around, kneaded, molded, given feature,fired and given to
speak. The first being
Priscilla herself, but bless her, the process speaks for the rest of
us.

—Bernard Pomerance,author and screenwriter

"LIVING CLAY is a testament to the
beauty of what hands are
capable of."

-The Bloomsbury Review

"Magnificent
animal murals....one
of the region's more
distinguished artists"